Transcript of "Creating an inclusive social media strategy"

1.
Creating an
inclusive social
media strategy
Dr Scott Hollier
Social Media in Public Sector 2014

2.
Who is Media Access
Australia?
• Australia‟s only independent NFP
organisation increasing access to
media for people with disabilities
• Provides expert knowledge and
advice on existing and emerging
mainstream technologies
• Works as a catalyst for change in
multiple areas of access

4.
Defining social media
• In the public sector, social media
should focus on practical
engagement
• “The need to create, modify, share,
and discuss Internet content in a
particular situation.” (Kietzmann et.
al. 2011)

5.
Benefits of social media
• The public want to create, modify,
share and discuss in areas of:
• Personal life
• Work
• Entertainment
• Goods and services
• Education

6.
Benefits for people with
disabilities
• Personal: share and discuss in
environments without prejudice
• Work: overcome high levels of
unemployment through online
interaction
• Entertainment: sharing captioned
videos, play online games
• Provision of goods and services:
getting Dominos pizza coupons

7.
Relevance to the public
sector
• Gov 2.0 Round table in 2009
highlighted need for practical
engagement of government services
via social media to people with
disabilities
• Gov 2.0 Taskforce in 2010 used a
competition to raise awareness of
inaccessible websites

8.
National Transition
Strategy (NTS)
• Australian Federal government
released NTS in 2010
• Three phases: preparation, transition
and implementation
• Implementation WCAG 2.0 targets:
• Level A end of 2012
• Level AA end of 2014

9.
Changing relevance of
accessible social media
• In 2009, Media Access Australia
released its Social Media Accessibility
Review
• Original request: “Which social media
tool is most accessible and worth
perseverance?”
• By 2011, changed to “I want to use what
everyone else is using, how do I
overcome the barriers?”

10.
SociABILITY project
• ACCAN funded project to support
people with disabilities
• 49 people provided tips and tricks on
getting around social media
accessibility
• This was combined with online
research and personal interviews to
gain information

11.
Key questions
• What can the social media tool do?
• What are the specific benefits to me?
• What tips and tricks can help me get
around the accessibility issues?
• How can I get set up to use it for the first
time?
• How do I perform the necessary everyday
tasks?
• How do I make my own content
accessible?
• Where do I go for help?

16.
LinkedIn
tips & tricks
• Finding people easier using Google than
LinkedIn‟s own search
• LinkedIn support receptive to needs of
consumers with disabilities (removed
CAPTCHA)
• LinkedIn app on iOS accessible
• Twitter is a good way to communicate
with LinkedIn about accessibility issues
• LinkedIn still has issues but is one of the
more accessible tools

21.
Practical accessibility tips
for public sector
• Accessibility is not just IT – engage
marketing, comms, content producers,
document creators and other roles in
accessibility training
• Make your website WCAG 2.0
complaint: only 26% were at end of 2012
• Use a variety of social media tools to
maximise accessibility of messages

22.
Practical accessibility tips
for the public sector
• Conversations that end with „its all on
our website‟ or „just follow us on…‟
are problematic - social media is a
conversation, not a broadcast
• Be open to accessibility criticism and
demonstrate willingness to improve
• Use and distribute free resources